Quick on the heels of the previous system, another front pushed onto the Kuskokwim Delta coast on March 19. Despite temperatures near freezing and an east-southeasterly wind, blizzard conditions were observed on Nunivak Island, which was surrounded entirely by sea ice.
Deaths and injuries are direct and indirect together, as the offices filed them. Damage is property and crops in the dollars of the year, not adjusted for inflation, and only where an office estimated it.
The episode as NWS AFC wrote it up.
Quick on the heels of the previous system, another front pushed onto the Kuskokwim Delta coast on March 19. Despite temperatures near freezing and an east-southeasterly wind, blizzard conditions were observed on Nunivak Island, which was surrounded entirely by sea ice.
The local office's own words before the first event, as it sent them, from the Iowa Environmental Mesonet's archive of National Weather Service text.
NWS Anchorage, AK wrote its last area forecast discussion before the first event at Mar 19, 2:34 AM AKST, 9 hours 44 minutes earlier.
Southcentral and Southwest Alaska Forecast Discussion National Weather Service Anchorage AK 334 AM AKDT Tue Mar 19 2024 .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHCENTRAL ALASKA (Days 1 through 3)... An upper level ridge is continuing to build over the southern half of Southcentral down to the Gulf of Alaska. This ridge will remain in place through the most of the week with the ridge axis shifting from near Kodiak Island today to Kayak Island by mid to late week. The result will be generally quiet weather across Southcentral with temperatures at or slightly above normal through the week with only occasional mid and high level clouds moving over the region. Subsidence on the east side of the ridge axis has helped dry out the mid and lower level of the atmosphere following the rain and snow of Sunday night and Monday morning. As such, widespread fog, and especially any potential for freezing drizzle, looks to be less of a concern this morning. There remains the possibility for fog overnight Tuesday into early Wednesday, especially along Cook Inlet, as the ridge axis shifts east of this region and a southwesterly flow and weak moisture advection sets up. Any fog development, though, will be dependent the eastward extent of high cloud cover as a weak shortwave moves through Southwest Alaska and along the Alaska Range Wednesday morning. Northerly gap winds are expected to increase Wednesday in the wake of the aforementioned shortwave as a weak coastal trough develops. While these winds are not expected to be very strong, the winds may allow for some additional warming that could bring daytime highs Wednesday to near 50 degrees for locations such as Whittier and Seward. -TM && .SHORT TERM FORECAST SOUTHWEST ALASKA/BERING SEA/ALEUTIANS (Days 1 through 3)... Key Messages: *Blizzard Warning Remains in Effect for the Kuskokwim Delta through 7am this morning. Additional snowfall amounts through 7am up to 1 to 2 inches, wind gusts up to 45 mph, and visibility reduced to a quarter mile. Conditions will improve through morning as snow changes over to rain. *Elevated southerly winds 35 to 45 mph with gusts up to 60mph will continue through tonight for the Eastern Bering, highest winds expected along coastal southwest Alaska and gap-wind prone areas along the Alaska Peninsula and Eastern Aleutians. *Otherwise, no major changes to an active forecast period as multiple storm systems will track across the Aleutian chain and into the Bering through end week. Discussion: A soggy forecast is on tap for much of southwest Alaska out through the Aleutians as a train of low pressure systems will bring persistent southerly wind and precipitation to the area. Strong southerly winds in the North Pacific and Bering Sea will continue through at Wednesday evening. Gap winds are forecasted to increase up to 50 to 60 mph in the Eastern Aleutian Islands this afternoon as an upper level reinforcing wave pushes overhead; fastest from Dutch Harbor east to Nelson Lagoon and within gap- wind prone areas. Snow and wind gusts ranging from 30 to 40 mph that created blizzard conditions from the Kuskokwim Delta through the night are slowly diminishing as warmer air continues to push northwards into the area, increasing surface temperatures above freezing and slowly changing the lingering snow showers to rain. Looking ahead, across Southwest Alaska, southerly to southwesterly wind flow is expected to continue through at least mid-week. As for the the Bering Sea and Aleutians, southerly to southwesterly wind flow is expected to taper by mid-week, decreasing after Thursday as an upper level flow goes zonal relative to the Chain. Overall, temperatures will be above average with highs in the mid 30s to low 40s and lows in the upper 20s to mid 30s. && .LONG TERM FORECAST (Days 4 through 7: Friday through Sunday)... A highly amplified pattern, featuring deep troughing over the Bering Sea and Aleutians and a strong ridge across much of Mainland Alaska and the Gulf remains throughout the period. This large scale weather pattern will favor above average temperatures across all of Southern Alaska. While drier weather and mainly calm conditions are expected for Southcentral Alaska under the ridge, a warm and stormy pattern is in store for the Bering Sea, Aleutian Islands, and Southwest Alaska as multiple waves and storms move through. The biggest challenge in the long term will be honing in on the track and evolution of these storms, and the timing on when the ridge begins to break down, allowing for any moisture to make its way into Southcentral Alaska. The first major storm complex will be on Friday as models show a sub-980 mb North Pacific low/low complex moving north and crossing the Aleutians sometime Friday into Saturday. However, confidence in the exact details of the low(s) itself still remains low, leading to high model variability in the location and timing of the heaviest precipitation and strongest winds. The GFS and various ensemble members show a single strong, occluding low, while the EC/Canadian begin to form a low complex with multiple precipitation and wind maxima. Forecast confidence continues to decrease by Saturday, with the question of whether the aforementioned low and troughing is strong enough to begin to break down the ridge extending across much of Alaska and the Gulf. Due to the single low, the GFS/GEFS keep the ridge in place continuing drier and calmer conditions across Southcentral, while the Canadian/EC and some of their respective ensembles push a front from the easternmost low eastward, bringing stronger winds and widespread precipitation into Southcentral. -ME && .AVIATION... PANC...VFR conditions and light winds will persist. The potential for fog development this morning looks less a concern with high clouds moving over the region and drier air near the surface. There remains the potential for fog development overnight Tuesday into Wednesday morning, but again will be dependent on the extent of mid and high level cloud coverage across the region. &&
Preliminary Local Storm Report
National Weather Service Anchorage AK
1246 PM AKDT Tue Mar 19 2024
..TIME... ...EVENT... ...CITY LOCATION... ...LAT.LON...
..DATE... ....MAG.... ..COUNTY LOCATION..ST.. ...SOURCE....
..REMARKS..
0623 AM Non-Tstm Wnd Gst 1 SSE Cold Bay 55.21N 162.73W
03/19/2024 E78 MPH Aleutians East AK Mesonet
&&1 blizzard. Local standard time, as filed.
The Mekoryuk AWOS observed blizzard conditions for several hours through the afternoon and evening of March 19. Winds gusted as high as 55 knots (63 mph) out of the east-southeast as blowing snow reduced visibility to one quarter mile or less. Conditions improved around 8 pm AKDT as temperatures began to warm and rain began to mix in.
After NWS Directive 10-1605, the rules offices file Storm Data by.
Every storm in Alaska in 2024Every state in 2024This day in weather historyWarnings in Alaska, March 2024
NOAA National Centers for Environmental Information, Storm Events Database, compiled from the National Weather Service’s monthly Storm Data. Complete through 2026-06; NCEI adds each month about 75 days after it ends and revises past years a few times a year. Rebuilt 2026-09-24. Each event’s entry at NCEI: 1163832.